How did u get into herps????

[CDN-Cresties]

Hey, i was just wondering how you guys got into herps. For me it was seeing a chameleon eat a cricket in the petstore, i said that is awesome, so i did some reasearch and i got one. Then the rest just came into place after that. :D

Thanks

-Steve-

[ohh_kristina]

I grew up catching snakes and frogs. It was kind of natural for me, so now I keep herps..I study them and talk about them constantly.
I guess it all started when my family and I (and all of our friends) went on a canoe trip, and a snake fell into our canoe from a tree, right next to me. I was amazed by how it moved and flicked it's tongue..so I started looking around my house and in fields around my neighborhood for snakes. I caught all kinds of garters, glass snakes (lizards?), black racers, corns, rat snakes, etc. And I loved summer because it rained every day and the field across the street would flood and get tad poles. I've always loved this stuff :D

[burmer]

I used to have some fields by the house I grew up in. I started finding garters and rat snakes and bringing home bucket fulls. Been hooked ever since.

[Lisa]

I was facinated with turtles and snakes as a kid, but never considered keeping them after my folks wouldn't let me keep a snapping turtle i caught (which is probably good cause i really had no idea about the care). fast forward to many years later when katey and I started dating and she brought her royal python into the picture. Many months since we're up to 24 snakes (hey that's about how long we've been dating too).

[Invictus]

When I was about 4 years old, I could tell you anything about any dinosaur that you ever wanted to know, and even some things you didn't want to know. That kind of began my attraction to all things scaly. I've been a lover of snakes and other reptiles for as long as I can remember.

[XxRachxX]

i HAD to do work experience for my college course! i looked around every where for something.... my last option out of thousands was a reptile rescue... and it stuck!! i LOVED it! if there was any animal id want to help it would be the herps! because theyre so mistreated and misunderstood! its great when you can nurse animals back to health and see them progress and get rehomed! like mine! i love it i love it i love it :) so there!! :p

[KrokadilyanGuy3]

I was 5 and there was a an ornate box turtle blocking the path that my Army men were pose to take. Instead of blowing the bolder up, I took him home.. I still have this animal. Xain

[reptilez]

In grade 4 I had to do a project on an animal. We had to partner up with a friend. The friend i chose had an Iguana, so his dad helped us on the project.
My parents said,"NO, you cant have a lizard!"
Two years later i walked into a petstore and was checking out fish. Walked Into the Reptile Dept. and saw little baby Leopard Geckos. I wanted One SOOOO BAD!!! My Dad made me choose between a Goldfish and a Leo. I chose the Leo. So my dad agreed that aslong as i do some research about it, and still like it, I can have one.
"Herps, Betcha can't have just one!"
-Reptilez

[reverendsterlin]

as a kid, rattlers, bullsnakes, grey bands, coachwhips, and tortises were common and I kept them all, habit never left

[TheRedDragon]

When I was about 5 years old or so, I was absolutely fascinated with dinosaurs. I still am to this day actually.

When I was 9, my mother had a friend that had a BCI and BP. She pulled out the BCI for me, and it curled up on my lap and slept there for a few hours.

Then, I went camping with my parents to Fawcet Lake when I was about 13 years old. There in the road lay either a neonate racer or garter, so, I scooped it up and kept it in my hand for hours until it regurged. Then I placed it back where I had found it only to find an adult of the same species, so, I picked it up to only get tagged, then I let it loose in the campsite by accident which freaked my parents out because it slithered under the tent.

Off and on since then I had always been fascinated with herps in general.

Now, four months ago this year, Invictus was given three corn snakes because the owner was moving and couldn't take them with him. Needless to say, we didn't stop there. :)

[sapphire_moon]

Ummmmmm, when I was like 4 and had a rather large (for my size) snapping turtle that my mother told me to keep my fingers away from.......didn't happen, and I got bit........but loved turtles and snakes since then....

[BoidKeeper]

When I was a kid my parents were allergic to cats and dogs but I wanted a pet. They bought me a turtle whe I was 11 and that started the obsesion. From Turtles I moved to a green iguanna and then other small lizards. For about a year at the beging of my second degree I didn't have anything. I knew the guy who took my iggy bred corn snakes so I decided to give them a try. I got on line did some home work got the snake and never looked back. That was November 2001. I still have him about about 20 others!
Cheers,
Trevor

[RachelS.]

Long story for me, actually. When I was 2 years old I had caught this little lizard (most likely a fence lizard or skink) and accidentally pulled its tail off. I felt really bad and couldn't believe I did such a thing, since I was really young and didn't know something like that was supposed to happen (I was really sensitive and loved animals so much, just like now), so I wrapped a bandaid around the lizard's tail. I actually brought it to one of my brother's ball games, and all the people thought it was really cute that a little girl would do something like that lol. Ever since then I have fallen in love with herps of all sorts. I caught frogs, lizards, bugs even (now I know that has nothing to do with reptiles, but still... I loved anything that crawled).

Then when I was about 9 I think, I found a pregnant earth snake in my great-aunt's yard when we were visiting and fell totally and completely in love with snakes. I was thrilled about my first snake! And it actually had babies. I had wondered why it had a buldge in it's stomach. Most of the babies survived, but I think a few died, maybe because they were slugs (is that possible in earth snakes because they're live bearers) or because of incorrect husbandary... I didn't know how to keep them. There was nothing I could find on them so I just did the best I could. But I let all of them go. And until this day I still find some in my back yard... crazy, isn't it? I never find anything but toads in backyard, or lol wait that's because of me too :p. I caught like 28 baby toads I think it was, like a few years ago and put them in my backyard. Ah well.... there's my little "getting in herps" story :). Thanks for reading :D

EDIT: Oh yeah and btw, when I was 4 or 5 I got my first actual pet reptile... a green iguana ;)

[daver676]

I grew up catching toads out of the local gullies and sewers, so I've always been interested in herps, but my parents never allowed me to keep one as a pet. Then I became an adult and moved out!

It all started when I was baby sitting my brother's beardie for him. I went to the reptile store to get some crikets, and saw the ball pythons. I did my reserch, gave my fish to a friend, and had my new bp by the end of the week. And the rest is history!

Dave

[alex_33]

I went to a "special" school for smart people lol, and the teacher was a huge Reptile collector. I did a project on a real nippy BCI, then I researched All the reptiles he brought in, and Decided on a Beardie And never looked back.

[Darlene]

I am into all critters equally. My house is a farm-zoo ! I grew up in the country & have just returned to it once again. As a child; myself & the few others close enough to get together; spent all our days in the fields, forests, ponds & rivers that surronded us. We gathered everything we could find from bugs to frogs to squirrels, birds & right on up. (sometimes even the neighbors cows!!). We gathered plants, too, including mushrooms & toadstools. We put everything back after someone was able to help us find out about. (I suspect sometimes the grown-ups made up stories when they didn't know !!). This curiousity stuck with us all & grew to a love of nature. To this day we get together on rare occasions & have the most fun comparing pets & plants !! That is how I got started.......

[Colonel SB]

Well for me it's genetic! My father is an Entomolgist so he is homozgous for herping and my mom must have been het cuz here I am & my bro hates reptiles :p. I have always loved reptiles & Amphibians I got my first job a 14 workin weekends a a pet store. Of course I didn't get paid one red cent but I got something way better! 1.1 Keyan Sand Boas....After that I was hooked for life :)

[drewlowe]

I always had a curiosity for them when i was younger, but my family didn't like them. I remember going to the country to catch blue racers with my brother, but my mom or dad didn't like them so i never got to keep any thing i caught. Then later in life i met a guy that had bearded dragons before we started dating ( they ended up dying before i met him). After almost a year of us being together i bought him 2 leo's and the fasination went from there. Now it's hard not to go to an expo and bring home a bunch of new herps.

Now my mom wants a bearded dragon(she fell in love with mine). She will even hold my corn snakes. so anyday now when my beardies hatch we are going to go out and buy everything she needs for her first reptile at 50 years old(never to late to start a new hobby). I also got her her first tattoo at 46. I'm a bad influence LOL.

[Smilts]

I have always liked snakes but my parents would not let me keep them when living at home. So i had moved on till one day not long back, I was walking the rck yard and noticed a group of inmates (about 30) in circle kicking some thing. I went over to find out what was happening and took home my first gopher snake